A little historical perspective: The Great Blizzard of 1978

[Doc1647545523]

We old farts enjoy lots of things to make up for our lack of sex. We wear outrageous t-shirts, pick fights with minorities on the bus, sling snow from our plows onto residential sidewalks, and we especially love to tell long, boring stories of our glory days to a younger, captive audience.

 

Bring your hot chocolate and sit over here by Uncle Doc and let me tell you all about the Great Blizzard of 1978.

 

It had been an unusually mild winter, and weather forecasters had mistakenly forecast heavy snows a number of times, but none of those had materialized. One night in late January, 1978, they again forecast blizzard conditions for the following day. It was hard to believe because the temperature was 40 degrees and it was raining that night. I drove from my job in Marion to the 50 acre farm I managed outside Olive Green, Ohio, near Sunbury, then went to bed.

 

During the night, things changed. A lot.

 

The polar jet stream and the subtropical jet stream "phased," or twisted together, in the Ohio Valley. This is a very rare occurence. The lowest non-tropical atmospheric pressure every recorded in the U.S. was January 26th in Cleveland, 28.28 inches of mercury. On the ground in Ohio, between 12 and 40 inches of snow fell, then sustained winds of 50-70 mph (with gusts of 110 mph) drifted the snow, knocked down powerlines, billboards, mobile homes, barns, and trees across the state. Temperatures across Ohio dropped to between zero and -20. Wind chills in Ohio dipped to 60 below zero. The National Weather Service dubbed the event a "severe blizzard," extremely rare, perhaps a century storm.

 

Our power went out. Our heat failed. Water lines froze quickly. All the water troughs in the barn froze solid. Our dairy cattle had to be milked by hand. We had one mechanical water pump near the house, and we used that to pump water to carry for watering the cattle, dairy cows, horses, and pigs. We flushed our toilet with water from snow which we melted on the wood-fired cook stove in a big canning kettle ..... that is, until the toilet froze.

 

We could not find the tractors or the cars for almost a day. We eventually dug them out, but there was nowhere to go. One drift on our road was over 50 feet high. The road didn't open for over a week.

 

A farm outbuilding in Marion County:

http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/outbuildingsMarionCo.jpg

 

Statewide, a lot was going on.

 

Governor James Rhodes activated the Ohio National Guard. He asked that anyone with snowmobiles or 4x4's relinquish them to local law enforcement so that doctors could be transported to hospitals and people with medical emergencies could be rescued. 45 Guard helicopters flew 2,700 rescue missions in 3 days. Miraculously, there were only 51 blizzard-related deaths in Ohio.

 

The Ohio Turnpike was closed, end to end, for the first time ever. President Carter sent Army engineers from Fort Bragg to Toledo with arctic gear, bulldozers, and fuel tankers to try to open the major roads. Groceries were stripped bare, and yes, there was some looting. The State Highway Patrol escorted food trucks from out of state to restock grocery stores. The Red Cross flew 80,000 loaves of bread to relieve hunger in Springfield. The U.S. Coast Guard used cargo planes to fly 30 tons of food to shelters in Cincinnati.

 

We had food and water, and stayed somewhat warm (house was below 30). Electricity came back on after 2 days. It was over a week before the furnace was running again. Most of the plumbing pipes were broken, and it was a month before they were all fixed. (Heating and plumbing people worked without rest for weeks on end.) People without animals to care for mostly stayed in their homes for a week, shoveling when they got bored.

House in Wood County:

http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/woodco.jpg

 

Many roads were closed for weeks. The commander of the National Guard said that the blizzard's effect on transportation in Ohio was equivalent to a nuclear blast. For example, a trucker on I-71 driving from Cleveland to Mansfield was stranded for 6 days in his truck in a snow drift 30 feet high and over a mile long. Rescuers heard him banging on the cab roof with an iron pipe:

http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/truck.jpg

 

Eventually, the counties, the Army, and the National Guard got the roads open, but it was still quite weird. State Route 4 in Marion County:

http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/plowedroad-Marionco.jpg

 

There were two more heavy snows in 1978, but it stayed pretty cold. The snow was so deep that you could still find snow for snowball fights in April. In Delaware City, they trucked some of the snow they cleared from the downtown sidewalks to an empty block the city owned near downtown and piled it all there. I remember that the last of it disappeared in June.

 

For the next few years, when there was even just a bit of snow in the air, people panicked and went to the stores to buy food. You couldn't hardly find a kerosene heater for sale anywhere for six months. Same with lamp oil.

 

So, my young friends, when some weather forecasters run their computer simulations out 10 days and claim a storm like the Great Blizzard of 1978 is going to hit us, I just say pshaw! :bs: No doubt, if we even end up getting 4 inches of snow, some of you lames are going to slide off the road, get your AWD cars stuck, complain because you broke your snowblower trying to clear your 250 foot driveways, miss two days of work, and then declare that the weathermen were right and that you survived the terrible hardship of the great blizzard. Well, bully for you. :gtfo:

 

If you need rescued, call me and I'll drive over to your place in my Buick and save you.

 

Now take that dirty cup out to the kitchen and rinse it in the sink.

[Dr. Pomade]

A+ post.

 

And that pic of the semi buried is craaaazy.

[Alex L.]

Don't tell me, you had to walk uphill both ways in that shit.

[SpaceGhost]

http://i355.photobucket.com/albums/r445/martyr65/woodco.jpg

I lived in the rural area of wood county in 78 and I remember this. I was almost 3, I remember my grandfather tunneling out of either the front or back door. I remember this very well. it was very odd. I remember walking outside all bundled up through a snow tunnel. And I remember a Helicopter coming out and landing and talking to my grandfather. My Mom keeps telling me the drifts were 25 feet.

[Orion]

I was conceived during that blizzard.

[Skinner]

I vaguely remember the storm. I lived in Norwalk at the time and we have pictures of it some where.

[Sully]

Don't tell me, you had to walk uphill both ways in that shit.

 

In bare feet, even!!

 

Seriously though, I hate reading, but I really enjoyed reading that. It really makes me miss my great-grandfather a lot. (Not an age joke at all. I was raised by my great-grandparents and he passed away when I was 15.) Anyway, it reminded me of the stories he could tell and how I always enjoyed listening to them.

[LJ]

My dad, 28 at the time, lost 3 K5 Blazers in that Blizzard trying to get food to elderly family members. One of them is still in service as the Harlem Township Field Truck

[Squidward]

My grandfather and uncle were sent to clear out roads so the national guard could get from town to town. They tell stories about it and how they could tell the loaders and other machinery were hitting cars but just pushed them off to the side Perks of having big equipment i guess

[99ta]

well done. I came to ohio from Illinois so this snow is nothing. I remember my parents always making fun of ohioians when we moved here when they panicked at a few inches of snow.

[mmrmnhrm]

I was conceived during that blizzard.

I was *born* in it :bangbang:

[Mensan]

Excellent post Doc.

 

well done. I came to ohio from Illinois so this snow is nothing. I remember my parents always making fun of ohioians when we moved here when they panicked at a few inches of snow.

 

Off-topic: Where in IL?

[CRed05]

Interesting. I had no idea how bad it was, good read.

[Richard Cranium]

I was 8, so I remember some of it. The school sent work home since we were out a couple weeks. I remember sitting at the dining room table in the mornings working on homework. We all slept in the master bedroom with the door closed and blankets over the windows to keep as much heat in as possible. After the storm dad went out and bought a kerosene heater, coleman stove and coleman lantern. I still use the stove and lantern when I go camping.

[Drewhop]

Marion county tends to drift a bit. I miss big snow drifts.

 

Great Story. I have heard plenty from my parents and grand parents. If that first building is where I think it is. My mother was less then a mile away from you.

[ross]

that was some good reading. my parents have told me some stories about the blizzard but i didn't realize it was that bad.

[Trouble Maker]

Here's for hoping it happens again. I'd hike up the drifts and ski down.

[dover]

Another main reason I am moving far south, thank you Doc for making me feel like a pansy when it snows 6'' and I am bitching.

[Cordell]

I'm obviously too young, having not even been born then, but I didn't realize what a freak occurrence it was. I always thought that my grandparents were making it out to be bigger then it was, I guess not.

 

Good story Doc, now tell another.

[LJ]

Doc can you tell us about the day of the Xenia tornados too?

[SpaceGhost]

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/wx_events/Blizzard78/blizzard/blizzard78.html

[ICEMAN1647545504]

I lived in the Nederlands and we would get 3 feet of snow once a month there. It was crazy.

[Squidward]

Here's for hoping it happens again. I'd hike up the drifts and ski down.

 

Ill be doing the same thing with my snowboard

[BDHG940]

Great post!

[SpaceGhost]

Ill be doing the same thing with my snowboard

 

I've heard 25 foot drifts are just bitchin' to snow board down fora whole second and a half.